Sanctuary
by Nalasan
Summary: After noticing that Kurt was still on edge because of the events at his old school, Blaine set his mind to help the younger boy getting used to his new home as quickly as possible. Whatever it took him...  2nd Chapter up!
1. Purity of Attention

**Disclaimer: _This story is for non-profit use and reader's enjoyment only. All creative rights concerning Glee, it's characters and any lyrics quoted here belong to their original creator(s)/artist(s)._**

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_"The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention." - Richard Moss_

_"Don't listen to their words, fix your attention on their deeds." - Albert Einstein_

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Blaine had always been a very perceptive guy. He noticed quirks and odds in people's character often very early in their acquaintance, and he was particularly emphatic when it came to people he liked. Not that most of his friends were complicated or hard to read, but he was usually the first to notice when someone was up to something.

For some reason, this became even more apparent after he had met Kurt. Even though the youngest Warbler was reserved and didn't feel comfortable _at all_ when he was forced talk about his feelings, Blaine never had many difficulties to understand what was going on inside Kurt's mind.

A small voice inside Blaine's head kept telling him this was because he paid much more attention to Kurt than he ever had to his other friends, but so far Blaine had been successfully ignoring this voice. _He _blamed the fact that Kurt had gone through the same experiences as he had back at his old school, and that he therefore could relate to him very easily.

When he first met Kurt, he instantly noticed that the boy was struggling. Back then he couldn't tell exactly what kind of struggle the younger boy was facing, but the difficulties he had to go through were written all over his face.

Later, when Blaine learned about the whole story, he understood very quickly that there were underlying reasons for Kurt's overall sadness. It wasn't just the fact that he was bullied at school, it was much more than that: never having friends that really acknowledged his inner struggles, his constant fear of not being able to make his father proud, never having experienced the feeling of being loved by someone who wasn't his family, not even being able to discuss things that were so important to him (like fashion, musicals or even gay rights) with someone who was truly interested in all that too; even him still missing his mother so very, very much.

Blaine understood most of it and he was glad that he could help the boy he had grown so fond of in such a short time with some of these things – but all in all, it was the bullying and ignorance at his school that stopped Kurt from being happy.

It had gotten better after Kurt transferred to Dalton Academy. Blaine noticed how often he saw him smiling now, how often he laughed and joked with the other students. Kurt was truly happy – at least Blaine thought so.

It took him some time to understand that this wasn't the case.

Granted, Kurt tried to be happy here, and he put some effort in letting go off all the things that had bothered him at his old life.

But he didn't quite succeed in it.

Blaine noticed this first during an uneventful lunch, when someone dropped a glass and plate, scattering food and cullet all over the floor. Everyone in the room flinched, but Kurt practically jumped up from his seat. Blaine spotted the frantic, panic-stricken look in his eyes only for a moment before the boy realized that there was no immediate danger around. But Blaine also noticed that his hands were still shaking slightly as he continued to eat.

After that, Blaine starting paying even more attention to Kurt and it didn't took very long until he noticed things that were similar to Kurt's reaction at lunchtime. Every time there was a loud noise – a door being slammed, a book being dropped – Kurt flinched and looked around, like he was expecting someone to punch him any second. And from what he had told Blaine, he had every reason to anticipate something like this.

Even when Blaine surprised him with his rehearsal of "Baby, it's cold outside", Kurt had looked up at him with fear in his eyes, turning into a relieved laughter when he noticed that Blaine was no one to be afraid of.

It wasn't until one evening in mid-February that Blaine understood how on edge Kurt really was.

The event occurred after Warbler practice. Blaine had stayed longer with some of the other boys to rehearse some parts of a possible number for Regionals. He was the last to leave the room. When he passed the hallway he noticed his favourite Warbler standing there, obviously lost in thought while looking at one of the announcements that were pinned at the old bulletin board.

Blaine hadn't had much exercise in tiptoeing since he had been a little boy, playing Hide and Seek with his sister and his cousin, but now he did everything he could to approach the younger boy as soundlessly as possible. When he was only standing centimeters away from Kurt he tackled him from behind.

Kurt shrieked higher than Blaine had ever heard somebody scream in his life and desperately fought against the arm Blaine had wrapped around him, which only resulted in Blaine tightening his grip, bringing the boy closer to his chest.

"Calm down, it's just me," he said, partly amused and partly shocked by Kurt's extreme reaction. It took the younger boy a moment to stop struggling. Blaine felt the pulse beneath his hand beat at a frantic pace.

"You almost gave me a heart-attack," Kurt said breathlessly after a second. Blaine chuckled. "I noticed."

He loosened his grip only a bit, bringing one arm down around Kurt's waist while the other grabbed the younger boy's hand, interlacing their fingers.

"I didn't expect anybody to be around here at that time," Kurt said after a moment, leaning against Blaine's chest.

"Well, we only have six minutes until curfew," Blaine agreed. He felt Kurt struggling in his embrace, asking: "Then we better should get to our dorms, right?"

Blaine only held tight. "Do you mind?" he asked.

"Do I mind what?"

"This," said Blaine, letting go of Kurt's fingers to let his arm join the one already tight around his waist. Kurt's arms slowly settled upon his. "No. Actually, I don't," said Kurt, and even though he was so close, Blaine almost didn't understand the soft words. He smiled.

"Well, it's worth the short moment of shock when something good comes out of it, right?"

"That's the tricky thing about shock – you don't quite know whether what's happening is good or bad."

Blaine nodded, leaned forward and said: "I promise you one thing: here, only something good will happen."

It wasn't until then he felt Kurt fully relax into his arms. And he was very sorry that he couldn't see the younger boy's face when he answered: "I'll keep that in mind."

This was the evening Blaine understood that even though Kurt was moderately happy at Dalton, he still didn't feel at home here. The realization that this was a place he was really _safe_ at had not sunken in yet. And at this precise moment, while holding Kurt in his arms and listening to his breath becoming even again, Blaine set his mind to help Kurt getting used to his new home as quickly as possible.

Whatever that took.

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_I originally planned this as a multi-chaptered story (the second chapter is also almost finished, and it's way more funny and than this piece of fluff) with this kinda being the prologue, but I think I first need to watch the Valentine's Episode… if it doesn't totally upset me (that means, if the KLAINE-part doesn't cause me to yell at things/people) I might continue with this story, even if it's becoming AU-ish. I don't care. I like the pink bubble inside my head in which Blaine courts Kurt and they become a couple and live happily ever after...  
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_But anyway, I felt like sharing the first chapter, at least. =D_

_Please tell me what you thought about it._

_~ Nalasan_


	2. The Name of the Game

**Disclaimer: **_**This story is for non-profit use and reader's enjoyment only. All creative rights concerning Glee, it's characters and any sayings quoted here belong to their original creator(s)/artist(s).**_

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_"The score never interested me, only the game.__" – Mae West_

_"Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other" – Rainer Maria Rilke_

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„Please, Kurt?"

„No David. No, as in 'No Way'!"

„Pretty please?"

„David. You are in the council of a Glee club sixteen members strong and although right now you are quite annoying, I am glad to inform you that most people around here really like you. I'm confident that you will be able to find somebody else."

"But it has to be you!"

"Why?"

"Because you have never played with us."

"That is because I find this game to be absolutely horrible and embarrassing and ridiculous and have no intention of _ever_ playing it."

"But it's fun."

"That's debatable."

Completely fascinated, Blaine watched the two boys from behind the pages of his history book. Kurt and David sat on the sofa opposite of him, engrossed in a quarrel that already lasted ten minutes. Blaine didn't know what to find more intriguing: Kurt's witty reasoning or David's persistence on an obviously lost cause.

"I bet you just won't play because you know you'll lose," said David, almost triumphantly. "You're scared. You are physically not up to the challenge."

Kurt sighed. "David. I have been an active member of a glee club that seizes the opportunities of public performances to show quite a lot of complicated dance numbers, a cheerleader and a member of the football team. You can't truly believe that I won't be capable of beating you at 'Twister'."

Blaine started to laugh but quickly disguised it as a cough when he caught the death glare David sent him across the room.

"Why don't you go and bother Blaine?" Kurt asked, obviously desperate to get rid of David.

David snorted in a very un-gentlemanlike way that sort of clashed with his dapper Dalton uniform. "Blaine hates 'Twister'. He always looses because he's so short – his arms just aren't long enough."

"I am not short," Blaine replied heatedly. David shrugged. "Then maybe it's to blame on your lack of motor skills, but you suck at 'Twister'. Face the facts, Blaine."

Blaine was on the brink of replying something very nasty when Wes walked into the room. Apparently, he was just returning from a date with his girlfriend because he was positively gleaming.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked before sitting on the sofa next to Blaine, smiling brightly.

"Kurt won't play Twister with me," David pouted. Blaine briefly considered throwing his book at the other boy, but refrained from doing so. They needed his voice at Regionals, after all.

"Why not?" asked Wes. "You're tall, Kurt, and you're agile. You won't lose all the time like Blaine does." He cried out when Blaine smacked his history book against his knee. Screw Regionals.

"Kurt, come on. Everyone else has played it at one time," David said, undisturbed by the quarreling that started on the other sofa. "I mean, really, _everyone_. It's almost like a Dalton tradition."

Kurt glanced at him, suddenly seeming unsure. "It is?"

"It's not," Blaine answered. He noticed how uncomfortable Kurt looked, and he felt sorry for the younger boy. Kurt had done everything within his power to fit into Dalton Academy – he stopped suggesting diva show tunes for the Warblers (or himself) to sing at rehearsals, he didn't give them lectures on the right skin care anymore – he even sat through an action movie night with them because Wes declared it was going to be a "Warbler's Movie Night". And even though he was sound asleep on Blaine's shoulder after the first ten minutes of 'Terminator 3', Blaine knew that Kurt really made an effort to become a part of his new school.

Hearing now that 'Twister' was a Dalton tradition – which it wasn't, at least as far as Blaine knew – practically forced Kurt to consider playing it, despite his obvious discomfort at the mere thought of it.

Wes and David were right – _Blaine_ hated 'Twister' because no matter how hard he tried, he always lost. _Kurt_ probably had other reasons for detesting the game; and since Blaine witnessed time and time again how stiff and uneasy Kurt got when it came to physical contact with other boys, he had a pretty good guess on what these reasons might be.

"Yes, it is," David retorted. "Well, sort of. Everyone else has played it at some point."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Because you bother them to no end. When having to choose between one game of 'Twister' and insanity, most people choose 'Twister'."

"Come on, Kurt," Wes chimed in. No matter how much he normally liked his two friends, at this moment Blaine felt the strong urge to strangle both of them. "David's right, everybody else has played it. It's no big deal, really." He smiled at the younger boy in a reassuring way. "We can team up und kick David's butt."

"You can't team up for 'Twister," David objected.

"Sure we can. If the last one standing isn't you, we win."

Kurt flashed Blaine a glance so full of neediness that the older boy stood up immediately.

"Kurt, you really don't…"

"Or you can team up with Blaine," David said, smiling wickedly. "That way it won't be too unfair since Blaine really sucks at this game. Frankly, it'll be more like a handicap."

Kurt's glance flickered insecurely from David to Blaine, from Blaine to Wes, from Wes to Blaine, from Blaine to David and back at Blaine. While staring at the floor and playing with his tie, he finally replied: "Well, I guess…"

"Brilliant," said Wes, standing up. "I'll be referee."

"And I'll get us a fourth guy to play with," David added, also shuffling to his feet. "I really don't want to get stuck between you two lovebirds." Sadly, he was out the door before the Warbler's leading vocalist had the time to grab a hardcover and aim it at him.

Blaine sighed. This just wasn't good. Kurt was really _not _comfortable with other people touching him – especially boys. This was something Blaine learned pretty early in their acquaintance.

He didn't know for sure, but he assumed the main reason behind this was the fact that Kurt never had had any male friends – at least not any he spent a lot of time with, let alone cuddle with. As far as Blaine knew, the only times Kurt came in touch with other boys were when he was being shoved into lockers, or lifted from the ground to be tossed into dumpsters.

It had taken quite some time to get Kurt used to him being hugged by Blaine. It had taken even more time until Kurt stopped simply enduring these hugs and actually started returning them. But still, Blaine noticed how Kurt tensed when one of the other boys touched him, even if it was just a simple pat on the back or the shoulder.

'Twister' was bound to prove to be an awful idea.

"Alright, let's go," David said. Blaine blinked, confused. The other boys had already set up the game. Jackets and ties lay abandoned on one of the sofas.

Next to David stood Harry, a goofy grin on his face. Blaine sighed inwardly. Harry was a sucker for any sort of nonsense going on. Of course he would play 'Twister' with someone like David and even look _happy _about it.

Wes spun the dart for the first time.

"Right foot yellow."

Blaine set his foot on the brightly coloured circle, carefully placing himself between Kurt and the other boys, who were already arguing over the best strategy. Kurt smiled nervously at him.

The next two commands yelled by Wes (who was enjoying himself a little too much for Blaine's liking) everyone fulfilled easily, but then it got tricky. Not that Twister played by four people wasn't hard anyway, but it got really complicated once it was played with someone who had his very own special strategy.

And since Blaine was really anxious to spare Kurt as many uncomfortable positions as possible, the game got trickier by the minute.

"_Left_ hand, Blaine," Wes said for the second time.

"This _is _my left hand."

"No, it is most definitely not," retorted David.

Blaine snorted: "If your toe barely touching the blue over there counts as "right foot blue", this counts too."

"Not that I am able to judge whatever you are doing over there," came Kurt's voice from Blaine's left. "But can we continue, please?"

"Yes, _please_," agreed Harry, his face red from the struggle to maintain his balance.

"Right hand yellow," Wes announced.

Out of the corner of his eyes Blaine saw Harry und Kurt reaching for the same circle. Without thinking – and barely being able to keep his balance during that abrupt movement – he reached out and slapped his hand on the circle – right next to Kurt's.

"Blaine, this is just not fair," Harry complained, hand frozen in the air. "Why can't you take the one next to you?"

"This one is nearest to me."

"No, it's not."

"Guys, you know the rules," Wes interfered. "Not more than two on one circle."

"This is so unfair, Blaine," Harry whined.

"But I was there first," Blaine replied.

"I understand that you want to hold hands with Kurt, Blaine, really, I do, but this is hardly the right occasion."

Blaine felt his cheeks heating up and was thankful that due to their entangled positions none of the other boys could see that. Hell, he couldn't even deny that accusation.

"Harry, please just try to reach another circle or forfeit the game," Kurt said, his voice sounding muffled and exhausted from somewhere underneath Blaine's left shoulder. "I would really like to move on since I am no longer able to feel my feet, let alone my fingertips."

Harry muttered something unintelligible, but managed to reach the circle next to the one Blaine and Kurt occupied.

"Alright guys, next one," said Wes, cheerfully observing the mass of entangled boy-limps before him that occasionally groaned. Blaine had always suspected that Wes truly was a sadist somewhere behind that polite smile and that gavel. Now he was sure of it.

Next to him, Kurt sighed audibly and shifted to adjust his balance. It wouldn't have bothered Blaine at all, hadn't it been for the fact that Kurt's hand next to his own moved too, causing his fingers to brush against the back of Blaine's hand. The older boy managed to remain perfectly still despite the electric jolts that shot up his arm from the spot where Kurt had touched him. He felt a shiver creeping down his spine, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. Suddenly, he was hyper aware of Kurt's slender body next to him: their thighs pressed together, their arms almost touching, Kurt's fingertips on his hand… Blaine immediately became aware of just how _intimate_ this kind of physical contact was – a thought that had never crossed his mind when he had played this game with the other boys. And it really didn't help that Kurt chose this precise moment to move his leg, bringing in closer against Blaine's upper thigh…

"BLAINE! Move it!" yelled David.

The vocalist snapped out of his daze: "What?"

"As much as I admire your ability to space out while being in this truly uncomfortable and downright ridiculous position, you need to move your right foot somewhere that's green," came Kurt's muffled voice from underneath him. Blaine felt the breath of the younger boy ghosting over his arm, raising goose bumps. He quickly lifted his foot to put it on a green circle – a green circle that was already occupied by Harry.

The other boy yelped when Blaine's foot crushed down on his.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry…"

"You did that on purpose," Harry whined.

"No, I didn't mean to…"

"Yes you did," David cut in. Blaine could see him glaring at him over Harry's arm. "You have been trying to sabotage this game from the very beginning."

"That is not true," objected Blaine.

"Yes it is. You just can't let us have fun with something you aren't brilliant at."

"Now that is just unfair," Blaine protested. "I'm trying to give my best here."

"Well, in that case, I am sorry to be the one to inform you," Harry retorted. "But you either are colourblind or just life-threateningly clumsy, Blaine."

David added: "In any case, there should be a warning on the game's instruction. 'Do not play with people who can't distinguish between left and right. Testing beforehand recommended.'"

Blaine was on the brink of replying something nasty when he heard a muffled noise next to him. He turned his head and saw Kurt shaking with laughter. Blaine caught himself staring, mesmerized. He had never seen Kurt laugh before. Smiling, yes, smirking, hell yes – but not once in their acquaintance had he heard the sound of Kurt's carefree laughter.

A moment later, Blaine learnt something else: it was downright impossible for four boys who had their limps dangerously entangled with each other to maintain their balance if one of them was laughing as hard as Kurt was right now.

He collapsed first, knocking Blaine's legs off from under him, causing him to crush against Harry, who likewise brought David down to the ground. Within a split second the boys lay on the ground, three of them moaning while one of them was still shaking with laughter. Harry's foot poked painfully against Blaine's knee and his head rested safely but uncomfortably on someone else's elbow, but at this very moment, Blaine couldn't care possibly less.

He was completely absorbed by Kurt, who had one arm wrapped around Blaine's torso, his face buried at the older boy's shoulder. His laughter slowly died down as Wes helped David up on his feet. Blaine wasn't sure whether David stepped on his foot on purpose or not, but didn't even so much as protest, since Kurt chose that moment to lift his face up from Blaine's shoulder, propping himself up on his elbow.

His eyes sparkled with unshed tears of laughter as he grinned down at Blaine.

"You really, _really_ suck at this game, don't you?"

At that moment, Blaine realized that a Kurt that happy was really worth the humiliation of being laughed at. Even though he would have preferred Kurt to be the only one to witness this humiliation. For David's mischievous grin told him that this was an experience he wouldn't be able to forget very soon.

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_I sincerely believe that no matter where you go on this planet, there will always be a nice guy called Harry around. Or someone named Sarah._

_Apart from that, what do you think about this chapter? I'm actually satisfied with it, and I have tons of ideas for next chapters and stories… plus, I think I will try and write some Westana fiction next. Just because I can! =D_

_And I hoped you all enjoyed V-Day (or Single-Awareness-Day or Shower-The-World-With-Chocolate-Day, whatever you are celebrating) and the lovely Glee episode that went with it. ("You mock us, Sir!" – Guys. Seriously? I swear, I wasn't able to stop laughing until they were already serenading that poor GAP-employee. Nasty stalking Blaine!)_

_Stay tuned for some more Klaine fiction and please please **please **let me know what you thought about this chapter!_

_~Nalasan_


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